Rerailer.



N. K. BOWMAN.

RERAILER.

APPLICATION FILED suuzza. 1914.

Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

Ai Y A a o v m W n D O O r. 2. %N W Wm MUN m w zaim m ms] w 2:: a m M K mgzlkw m; 1 W W =1 E =w H M. 5 w A h. a I H NW\ witmeooao Em I k Mg nrrn er res an oFFI E NEWTON K. BOWMAN, or NORTH LAWRENCE, OHIO.

,REIVR-AILER.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filecl June 23, 1914. Serial No. 846,827.

among mine operators that during a motor or rope haulage trip one or more of the cars is frequently derailed particularly at the points where the cars enter or leave a curve. Such derailing of the car causes almost in everycase a considerable delay and in many instances the consequences are very serious. The liability of serious damage arises out of the fact that it is often difiicult to determine when a car is derailed, and as a result the car is often dragged a long distance. Obviously, the dragging of acar for a considerable distance may cause the derailing or wrecking of a large numberof other cars, spreading of the rails and even tearingv up of the track. I

Being cognizant of the above conditions,

I have had in mind as'the principal object of my invention the'provision of asimply constructed rerailing device which may be permanently interposed in the track, as a section thereof at those points of the track whereat the derailing of cars has been found to frequently occur, and will present to the derailed car wheels deflecting guide bars which will guide the wheels back to the proper position on the track.

A further and more specific object of my invention is to provide a rerailing device which is formed in the nature of a track section and is equipped not only with deflecting members for guiding the wheels of a car back'onto the track, but which is also provided with inclined track ways so arranged that a derailed wheel will be raised from the ties tosuch an elevated position as willpermit the flange of the wheel to move across the tread of the tie and drop down into its normal position of engagement with the inner edge of the tread.

Another andmore general objectof my invention is to provide a rerailing device which'embodies in its construction the essential features of simplicity, durability and i K. 'BOWMAN,

efliciency and is so designed that itmay be cheaply manufactured and readily installed for service. 1

The above recited and other incidental objects of a similar nature, which will be hereinafter more specifically treated, are accomplished by the apparatusillustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in the following specification and then more" PatentedSept. 7,1915.

particularly pointed out in the claims which are appended-hereto and form a part of this application.

With reference to the-drawings, wherein there has been illustrated the preferred embodimentof the invention as it is reduced to practice and throughout the several views of which similar reference numerals desig-' nate corresponding parts-Figure 1 is a top plan view of the rerailer showing the vari ous elements thereof in operative assembled relation; Fig. 2 is a perspective view; Fig.

3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. l; and Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 1.

As has been previously set forth, the preferred embodiment of my invention is constructed inthe nature ofa track section so that thecompletererailer may be interposed in the track at any desired point. For this pin-pose therefore, the re'railer includes as a part of its supporting structure a plurality of ties 10. These ties are similar to those ofordinary construction, except that they are of more than the usual length, being preferably of such length that their termi nals extend sixteen or eighteen inches beyond the rails at each side of the track. The number of ties included in the rerailing apparatus depends, of course, upon the conditions under which the rerailer is employed. A pair, of rails indicated at A'and B are spiked in the usual manner upon the ties 10 and constitute, when the reraileris properly positioned, continuations of the track rails. and B is occupied by a number of filler planks or'beams 11 which span the ties and are properly secured thereto by rail-spikes or any other fastening devices which it may be found desirable to use. In practice,

when the rerailer is made for standard i tram car tracks, the upper faces of the filler planks 11 lie in a plane which is approxi mately 1?, inches below the tread surface of the rails. ,The purpose in thus, arranging: the members 11 will be hereinafter more fully explained.

The space between therails Ar V nals of the beams 12 and 13 which are intended to constitute the entrance to the rerailer are beveled as indicated at 14.

' Inasmuch as the beams 12 and, 13 and those filler planks or beams 11 which are immediately adjacent to the rails A and B serve as the elevating track-ways by which the derailed car wheels are lifted back onto the track, it is of course desirable to provide some means for preventing the wheels or the flanges thereof particularly from cutting into these beams. For this purpose therefore, there is secured by spikes or any other desired fastening means to the upper face of each beam 12 and 13 a longitudinally extending wear plate as indicated at 15 and 16 in Fig. 1 particularly. 'A similar pair of wear plates 17 and 18, which will also be best seen in Fig. 1, are secured on the filler members 11 which are immediately adjacent to the rails A and B. Those terminals of these wear plates, which are arranged at the entrance to the rerailer, are bent downwardly as at 19 to engage flatly against the beveled terminals 14: of the beams 12 and 13 and those members 11 which are immediately adjacent the rails A andB.

From the foregoing description, it will be readily obvious upon reference particularly to Fig. 2, that if the wheels of a car become derailed, they will upon engaging the portions 19 of the wear plates be moved up an inclined surface and will then move along the tops of the beams 12 and 13 or along the outermost members 11. The mere raising of the wheels to the proper relation with respect to the treads of the rails is not suflicient, however, to properly rerail them, it being necessary to employ some type of guide for directing the wheels back into the proper position on the rails.

While it is of course possible to employ almost any form of guide for directing the wheels to the proper position with respect to the rails after the wheels have been moved up onto the beams12 and 13 or members 11, Ifound it best in practice to employ the type of guide bars shown in the accompanying drawings. These guide bars are preferably formed from lengths of angle-iron having an L-shaped cross section and are made relatively heavy so that they may .withstand the lateral thrust to which they willbe subjected when engagedby a derailed car wheel. The guide bars are arranged in pairs. there being one bar arranged on each side of each rail. Referring to the guide bars by numerals, 20 and 21 Those termisecured to the beam '12 and that member 11 which is immediately adjacent the rail A by spikes which are inserted through the horizontal portions of the bars. Those terminals of the bars which are located at the entrance to the rerailer are in practice spaced approximately 12 inches from the rail A. The members 20 and 21 are arranged diagonally with respect to the rail A, however, being so disposed that their forward terminals converge. It will thus be seen that the vertical portion 25 of the bars form in eflect deflecting flanges which, upon being engaged by a, wheel, will urge the same toward the rail as the car moves through the rerailer. The forward terminals of themembers 20 and 2-1 may be bent outwardly, as indicated at 26.

It is now to be noted that the members 22 and 23 are secured in the same manner to the beam 13 and that member 11, which is immediately adjacent the rail 13, and in the same converging relation to the rail, as.

are the members 20 and 21 mounted with respect to the rail A. The forward terminals 27 of the bars 22 and 23 are also bent to extend away from the rail.

The actual construction and arrangement of the several parts of the rerailer being thus described, it now remains to explain the manner in which the elements co6perate to replace the wheels on the track rails.

Assuming that the car is moving in the direction indicated by the arrow inFig. 2, it will be first considered that the wheels in jumping from the track have moved to the right so that the near wheels are bumping along the ties outside of the rail B while the off wheels are bumping along the ties inside of the rail A. When the wheels engage the members 19 of the plates 17 and 16 respec tively, they will of course be simultaneously moved up the inclined surface of the members 19 and will then be drawn along the members 17 and 16, respectively. The flange of the off wheel which is moved along the member 17 will of course engage against the vertical portion of the member 21 so that the wheel will be moved toward the rail A as it moves through the rerailer. The outer face of the near wheel, however, and not the flange thereof will engage against the vertical portion of the guide bar 24. The purpose in arranging the interiorelevating track ways (which consist in the members 17 and 18) in a plane lowerithan the tread of the rails and arranging the members 15 and 16 flush with the tops of the rails, will now become apparent.

It will be seen that the upper face of the member 17 is disposed below the tread of the rail A a distance which is approximately equal to the width of a standard car wheel flange so that when the wheel is running along the member 17 the tread of the wheel may be guided freely onto the tread of the rail. It is necessary, however, that the off wheel which is moving along the member 16 on the outside of the rail B be elevated to such position that the flange of the wheel may readily cross the tread of the rail B so that the flange may drop down. to en-.

gage the inner edge of the rail tread. Ob-

viously, the upper face of the member 16, being flush with the tread of the rail B the in the manner previously ascribed to the.

members 17 and 16 and 21 and 24:.

It is necessary that the wear plates 15,

16, 17 and 18 be all arranged so that their inner edges will engage closely against the rails A and B so that there will be no liability of the wheel flanges dropping between the rails and the adjacent edges of the wear plates.

It will now be apparent that my rerailer is so designed that it may either be manufactured as a knock down structure and assembled at the scene of application to a mine car track, or it may be manufactured and transported as a complete operative device ready for application to the track.

In reduction to practice, it has been found that the form of this invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings and referred to in the above description, as the preferped embodiment, is the most efficient and practical; yet, realizing that the conditions concurrent with the adoption of this device will necessarily vary, it is desirable to emphasize the fact that various minor changes in detail of construct-ion, proportion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, when required, without sacrificing any of the advantages of this device as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. A rerailer of the character described including a plurality of transverse supporting members, a pair of rails mounted thereon, filler beams mounted on the supporting members and occupying the space between the rails, the plane of the upper faces of the beams being below the plane of the tread surfaces of the rails, a beam mounted on the transverse members adjacent the outer side of each rail, said filler beams and said last-mentioned beam each having those of their terminals, which constitute the entrance to the rerailer, beveled, providing inclined lifting track ways for derailed car wheels, a wear plate positioned on each side of each rail for the reception of a derailed car wheel, and a pair of diagonally arranged guide bars for each rail, the individual bars of each pair of guide bars being arranged on opposite sides of the adjacent rail, whereby a car wheel riding on the wear plates at either side of a rail will be deflected .from an abnormal path back to proper position on the rail.

2. A rerailer of the character described including a plurality of transverse ties, rails mounted thereon, filler beams mounted on the ties and occupying the space between the rails, a beam mounted on the ties at the outer side of each rail, said first-mentioned and said second-mentioned beams being provided with beveled terminals, wear plates mounted on each side of each rail and on the beams adjacent thereto, the terminals of said wear plates being bent downwardly to bear against the beveled terminals of the beams, and a diagonally extending cross section L-shaped guide bar mounted on each side of each rail and engaging against the outer edge of the adjacent wear plate.

3. In a railway embodying ties and rails, filler beams disposed longitudinally between the rails of a section of the track and secured to the ties, other beams disposed exterior to the rails and secured to the ends of the ties, wear plates secured to the filler and outer beams upon opposite sides of the rails and contiguous thereto, the upper surfaces of the inner wear plates being below the treads of the rails a distance about equal to the depth of the flanges of the car wheels, and the upper surfaces of the outer wear plates being in the plane of the treads of the rails, and guard rails secured to the filler and outer beams adjacentthe edges of the wear plates and converging in their length toward the track rails from front to rear, the forward ends of the beams and wear plates being beveled to facilitate the mounting of the car wheels thereon.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

NEWTON K. BOWMAN.

Witnesses:

A. KATHERINE KELL, BERTILLE K AFT.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained'for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

